Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

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Introduction

That Irish songs flourished not only on the European side of the Atlantic but also the American was due especially to the tenor Chauncey Olcott. Like his contemporary Eugene Stratton, Olcott was born in Buffalo, was educated by the Christian Brothers, and became a performer with Haverly’s Mastodon Minstrels. Whereas Stratton settled as a black-face performer in Britain, Olcott (who was brought up by his Irish-born mother after his father’s early death) became the archetypal American Irishman, writing and performing sentimental songs evoking Ireland and its people. These included ‘My wild Irish rose’ (1899) and ‘When Irish eyes are smiling’ (1912), as well as ‘Mother Machree’. He introduced this last in a romantic drama Barry of Ballymore by Rida Johnson Young, a former actress who had been Victor Herbert’s librettist on Naughty Marietta. Olcott’s musical collaborator was Ernest R Ball, a vaudeville pianist who was staff arranger for the Witmark publishing company.

Recordings

'Other singers over recent decades have given the songs an airing from time to time, but Thomas Allen is the very man to do it' (Gramophone)'With piano-playing by that most sensitive of accompanists, Malcolm Martineau, Sir Thomas Allen brings high art to these songs … with an affectio ...» More

'Not in the profoundest Schubert, the most exquisite Fauré, has either of them performed with more delicacy and refinement, more tenderness, humour, a ...'A delightful and diverse selection … strangely haunting' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

Details

Thereís a spot in me heart which no colleen may own;
Thereís a depth in me soul never sounded or known;
Thereís a place in my memíry, my life that you fill,
No other can take it, no one ever will.

Sure I love the dear silver that shines in your hair,
And the brow thatís all furrowed, and wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers so toil-worn for me.
Oh, God bless you and keep you, Mother Machree.

Evíry sorrow or care in the dear days gone by
Was made bright by the light of the smile in your eye.
Like a candle thatís set in a window at night,
Your fond love has cheered me, and guided me right.

Thereís a spot in me heart which no colleen may own;
Thereís a depth in me soul never sounded or known;
Thereís a place in my memíry, my life that you fill,
No other can take it, no one ever will.

Sure I love the dear silver that shines in your hair,
And the brow thatís all furrowed, and wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers so toil-worn for me.
Oh, God bless you and keep you, Mother Machree.

Evíry sorrow or care in the dear days gone by
Was made bright by the light of the smile in your eye.
Like a candle thatís set in a window at night,
Your fond love has cheered me, and guided me right.